SO HOW
DOES RISE OF THE
PLANET OF THE APES FIT IN WITH ALL THE OTHER APES MOVIES?

The
upcoming Rise of the Planet of the Apes is being sold as a
prequel to the original Planet of the Apes movie. The only problem is that
it already has two (!) prequels, namely 1972’s Conquest of the Planet of
the Apes and the 1973 Battle for the Planet of the Apes . . .

In fact
Rise of the Planet of
the Apes, directed by Rupert Wyatt and starring James Franco, doesn’t
seem to fit in with any of the previous Apes movies, even the
ill-fated 2001 remake by Tim Burton.

Is it even a Planet of the Apes
movie then?

For once the studio publicity material happens to be
truthful. According to its production notes, the upcoming Rise of the
Planet of the Apes is a “completely new take on one of 20th Century
Fox's most beloved and successful franchises.”

They even have the hyperbole about it being one of the
studio’s most “beloved” and “successful” franchises right, although it
could be argued that it is probably most beloved by 20th Century suits who
have throughout the years green lit various cash-ins including the
upcoming prequel, which is due August 5, 2011.

You see, the truth is that most cinemagoers below the
age of 40 nowadays will probably know Planet
of the Apes from the confusing 2001 Tim Burton remake starring Mark
Wahlberg, Tim Roth and Helena Bonham Carter amongst others – if at all!

A quick recap for anyone unfamiliar with the Apes
franchise: In 1968 the first Planet of the Apes
movie was made starring Charlton Heston – you might know him as the former
head honcho at the NRA, but he was actually one of the most popular
Hollywood stars in his time. The flick was based on the 1963 French novel
La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle who also wrote Bridge on
the River Kwai.

The original Planet of the Apes was described as
a “hysterical race parable” by some critics at the time, but it certainly
struck a chord with moviegoers probably thanks to the then-revolutionary
makeup used to turn actors such as Roddy McDowell into talking simians.
Since then the movie was followed by four sequels and two television
shows, one live action and one animated.

By 1973 it was however clear in the face of dwindling
receipts that the series has exhausted itself at the box office and it
wouldn’t be until 2001 that the franchise rights holders, namely 20th
Century Fox, decided to “reboot” the series with a high-budget remake
directed by Tim Burton.

The 2001 remake was one of those movies which scored big
at the box office (it was the tenth-highest grossing film in North America
that year), but got no love from movie audiences. It may have scored $180
million at the U.S. box office, but fans weren’t exactly clamoring for a
sequel. Plus the critics slammed it – it only got a paltry 45% approval
rating at RottenTomatoes.com.

"The upcoming 2011 film largely ignores the events of all four of the
1970s Apes movies . . ."

Suits at Fox must have sensed the chilly vibe and plans
for a sequel were quietly shelved. (Even director Tim Burton admitted in
an interview that he would “rather jump out a window” than work on a
follow-up.)

Until now, that is.

Bargaining on audiences having a short memory, this year
sees the release of an Apes prequel titled Rise of the Planet of
the Apes. That the movie was first titled Caesar and then
Rise of the Apes and only changed to the lengthier Rise of the
Planet of the Apes at the very last moment shows how much confidence
Fox has in the brand recognition of its long-in-the-tooth Planet of the
Apes franchise.

The movie is purportedly a prequel to the original
‘Sixties Planet of the Apes movie in which
an astronaut played by Charlton Heston [SPOILERS AHEAD] discovered
that the planet he has crash-landed on, in which intelligent apes are the
dominant species instead of humans, is in fact the Earth and not some
distant planet as he had initially thought. [END SPOILERS]

Or at least that is what one supposes judging from the
new trailer (which you can watch below) and plot synopsis. But it makes
sense. In the 2001 remake it is assumed that the Earth is overrun by
intelligent apes because, well, the screenwriters wanted it to be and
thought it would be a cool “twist” ending. (They probably drank too much
coffee at their regular script meetings.)

In the 1968 movie it is implied that humanity made a
mess of things and intelligent apes took over the planet following a
full-scale nuclear war. “You maniacs! You blew it up!” Charlton Heston
famously despairs at the end of the original classic. Nuclear destruction
of the entire planet was a big issue during the Cold War (note to anyone
under 20: you can Google it) and in science fiction in particular. The
nuclear war analogy is further driven home in the bizarre 1970 sequel
Beneath the Planet of the Apes, which
featured a cult worshipping a nuclear warhead!

Beneath the Planet of the Apes ended with the
whole planet of the apes being blown up. When the movie proved to be an
unexpected box office hit, screenwriters had to hurriedly come up with
time traveling monkeys (seriously) for what is probably the best of the
Apes sequels, namely 1971’s Escape from the
Planet of the Apes.

Cleverly enough the time traveling monkeys supplied the
foundation for the plot-line of the next two films, namely Conquest of
the Planet of the Apes (1972) and Battle
for the Planet of the Apes (1973). Of the two, Conquest is most
clearly a “prequel” in the proper sense of the word in that the film
explains how the Earth came to be overrun by intelligent monkeys in the
first place. (See, even back in the ‘Seventies Hollywood resorted to
prequels.)

And just how did it come about?

Wikipedia
supplies the answers:

In 1983 (several years after the end of Escape from the
Planet of the Apes), a disease kills the world's cats and dogs, leaving
humans with no pet animals. To replace them, humans began keeping monkeys
and apes as household pets. In time, humans notice the apes' capacity to
learn and adapt; thus they train them to perform menial household tasks.
By 1991, the United States of America has become an oppressive and fascist
culture of uniformed classes and castes, based upon ape slave labor.

Naturally the apes revolt and take over. The end. (So
much for the nuclear war alluded to in the first two Apes movies!)

When one thinks about it Conquest
of the Planet of the Apes is typical of most prequels: it redundantly
colors in what the audience already suspects. Do we really need to know
how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader? Do we really want to find out
about Hannibal Lecter’s past?

The upcoming 2011 film wisely doesn’t seem to feature
any diseases wiping out household pets and largely ignores the events of
all four of the 1970s sequels. Nor does it seem to be a “racial parable”
(after all movies actually being “about” something is so last century you
know).

Instead it seems to be a remake of Deep Blue Sea,
the 1999 movie in which scientists genetically modify sharks to make them
more intelligent in a bid to cure Alzheimer’s. This time round scientists
are messing with, um, intelligent monkeys to cure some disease. Obviously
the chimps revolt and kill the humans (no surprise).

Yup, it is the old Frankenstein (1818) story of
“man shouldn’t mess with nature” all over again. Only problem with that
particular anti-science message is that where do we cross the line? After
all, isn’t, let’s say, inventing eyeglasses also “messing with nature”? Or
taking antibiotics? Should we all go live in caves again?

Ironically while Rise of the Planet of the Apes
may have an anti-science message at its heart it wouldn’t be possible
without modern technology. Instead of hammering on the franchise’s
42-years-plus roots, studio publicity has focused on the special effects
by Peter Jackson’s famed Weta Digital outfit. After all, this will be the
first time that the apes will be CGI creations like the Na’vi in
Avatar (also Weta). Even the 2001
remake at the time depended on Rick Baker's prosthetic makeup instead of
CGI.